Lid remover for wall can openers



Dec. 16, I952 R. E. WESTER 2,621,880

LID REMOVER FOR WALL CAN OPENERS Filed June 17, 1949 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 16, 1952 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE LID- REMOVER FOR GAN QPENERS' Roy E. Weston-,Gfisenevill, Tenn.

Application' June 17, 1949} SefiaFN'o. 99,7 3-3' 1" Glainr. 1.

This invention relates to a can lid remover attachment for a wall supported can opener.

The conventional wall supported can opener in general use has one disadvantage that is a decided inconvenience to the user. This disadvantage resides in the fact that upon full severance of the top or lid from the body of the can, said lid becomes quite difiicult to remove. Generally, it drops upon the contents of the can, and when one attempts to remove the lid by tilting, ones fingers become immersed in said contents of the can, and additionally, the lid often tilts into said contents, forcing them over the side of the can. If one attempts to remove the lid .by inserting a fork or similar implement thereunder, it is often diflicult to enter the fork in the space between the severed lid and the can wall.

It is to remedy these inconveniences that the present invention is designed.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide an attachment of the character described that can be readily secured to the body of a can opener of the type referred to, and which will not require modification of the can opener construction in any way.

Still another object is to provide a device of the type stated which is applied with complete speed and ease to the can the lid of which is to be removed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combination of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a can attachment constructed in accordance with the invention, as it appears when applied to a conventional wall supported can opener, a can to which the attachment is applied being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section through the head of said attachment.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 5 designates a conventional can having the lid 6 the marginal portion of which is adapted to be severed by a cutter 1 carried by the body 8 of a conventional wall supported can opener having the rotatable handle 9 for rotatin the toothed gear l0, said toothed gear I!) being disposed under the bead of the can for rotating the can to sever the lid therefrom.

All the above parts are wholly conventional, and do not per se constitute part of the present invention.

The present invention includes a bracket H secured to the body 8 of the can opener by screws I 2 and having the vertically disposed recess l3 through which extends, for rotatable movement within the recess, the spindle l4 having the laterally extended end |5 to prevent the spindle from dropping out of the recess. Said spindle I4 and laterally extended stop l5 can be integrally formed from a suitable length of spring wire material, said spindle merging into the coil spring l6 which in turn merges into the outwardly extended elongated arm H having at its free end the eye l8 through which is loosely extended the threaded stud l9 embedded in the rubber suction cup 20, knob 2| being threaded upon said stud for the purpose of holding the suction cup assembled with the arm l1. Thus, the rubber suction cup is mounted for rotatable movement upon the end of said arm, so that the cup can rotate with the lid 6 of the can 5, when the can is being rotated during severing of the lid.

In use, the rubber suction cup 20 normally lies close to the body 8. When a can is to be applied to the can opener, the arm I1 is swung outwardly, this being permitted by the rotatable mounting of the spindle M in the bracket II, and the rubber suction cup 20 is positioned centrally of the lid 6 and is pressed thereagainst so as to set up a gripping action. Now, the handle 9 of the can opener is rotated, rotating the can 5 and cutting the lid 6 around its margin. During the rotation of the can 5, the rubber suction cup 20 is permitted free rotation with the lid.

In this connection, it will be understood that the spring l6 normally holds the arm I! slightly elevated relative to the lid of a can applied to the can opener, so that when the rubber suction cup 20 was applied to said lid, it was applied against the action of the spring. As a result, as soon as the can opener is operated so as to fully sever the lid 6 from the can 5, the spring action, no longer restrained, elevates the rubber suction cup 20 and the lid 6 so that said lid 6 clears the can 5.

In this connection, it will be understood that it is not essential that the lid 6 clear the can 5 when fully severed therefrom. This is by reason of the fact that separation of the can body from the can opener after severing of the lid permits the body of the can to be taken from the can opener, while the lid 6 will still be held by the rubber suction cup. However, I have found it advantageous to provide a construction as described,

3 so that when the can body 5 is removed from the can opener, all possibility of its catching upon the marginal portion of the lid 6 will have been eliminated.

Important characteristics of the invention reside in its ready attachment to a conventionally constructed can opener, its low cost of manufacture, small number of moving parts, ready application to cans of different diameters, and ease of application to and removal from a can lid, the device being applied to the can lid simply by pressing downwardly upon the knob 2|.

What is claimed is:

A device of the class described comprising a coil spring formed from a single length of wire material, one end portion of said length of wire material being extended laterally from one end of the spring to define a spindle; a bearing bracket having a pivot recess, said spindle being pivoted in said recess, the pivot axis of the spindle 4 being substantially vertically disposed and the coil spring extending horizontally and radially away from said pivot axis; a long arm of wire material integral with the other end of the spring and proportioned to be flexed springably both horizontally and vertically; and a suction cup rotatably mounted upon and depending from said arm.

ROY E. WESTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 838,806 Pemberton Dec. 18, 1906 2,265,491 Powers Dec. 9, 1941 2,296,073 Walgo Sept. 15, 1942 20 2,302,300 Davies Nov. 17, 1942 

